The CRM Software Distortion Field

There's an old saying that people buy things because of how they think they will feel after the purchase. According to this Computer World article, it may sound ridiculous, but it drives plenty of IT purchase cycles. Unfortunately, buyer's remorse is real, but it can be avoided in CRM projects.

"In Seth Godin's book, he wrote that marketers don't actually lie  they merely provide information that lets the customer believe whatever they want. If that's true, the source of the reality distortion field isn't the vendor, it's the buyer. So don't let yourself be deluded.

"The first source of delusion is the fascination with features. Of course, that's what the vendor is going to emphasize and demo. In a sales cycle, amazing stories will be told, believed, and extrapolated upon. Features make it easy to do comparative checklists that make the purchasing department happy. Problem is, CRM features are essentially useless if they users don't like them. Since a CRM system is worth only as much as the scope and validity of the data it contains, a CRM without active users is an empty shell that can have no business impact...irrespective of the purported features."